Home Sweet Home

We spent last week in Tucson, enjoying the Tucson Lifestyle, which is as follows: wake up, eat breakfast, ride, eat again, stretch, shower, eat dinner, watch TV, go to bed. Let me tell you, with the epic rides in Tucson, this is about all you WANT to do!!
We met two groups of people in Tucson. The 20 something full-time athlete and the 60 something full time athelete. The 20 somethings are the pro and semi pro racers that are living on pennies and riding their hearts out(right hand side of picture). The 60 somethings are retired men, who have lots of money and lots of time for bikes (beside me). Both are able and willing to kick some Albertan Ass!!

The city of Tucson is the second most bike friendly city in America. The bike culture is infectious, with pretty much everyone out on their bikes. We were excited to see so many pros out training (sometimes even with us), but even more exciting is to see non-pros out riding. There is a man in a white shirt and tilley hat, on a canadian tire special bike, who rides Mount Lemmon EVERYDAY. Now, Mount Lemmon consists of a 26 mile climb. Most people do not make it all the way - we only made it to mile 12. I am not sure how far Tilly hat goes, but regardless - he's a champ in my mind.
KC and I were happy to spend our Tucson time with some fellow Albertans who are living/visiting Tucson. We went to a BBQ, for mexican food, and of course riding.
Anyway, back to the land of cold and snow. I rode my trainer today and was surprisingly pumped about training. Sometimes a trip like our AZ adventure is what you need to remind yourself of why you train so hard. Now I know....

Fun in the Sun

All is well. Our luggage arrived and we have been riding like crazy. We have done about 280km in 4 days...which has been enough to make me feel I really deserved our rest day today.
In true resting style we went to watch the VOS critirium, and watched other people exercise. Our new friend came in second in a sprint finish. It was exciting. One point of interest: they sing the national anthem prior to the start. Another point of interest: this only happened for the mens race...not the pro women. humph.
Off to Tuscon tomorrow in our 2006 Nissan Murano, hopefully we don't get lost and end up in the hood again. That was wrong.
For those interested see KC's new blog at www.xanga.com/djevervegan

We made it...sort of

So we arrived in Arizona...apparently our bikes and bags arrived here to, we just haven't seen them yet! Here is the story:
We were late flying into Denver to make an already tight connection. We landed at 6:22 and our flight to Phoenix left from a different terminal at 6:38. We barged our way off the plane and sprinted through the airport to make the flight. Sadly, our bags didn't move at the same pace and had to catch the next flight into Phoenix. They were supposed to arrive between midnight and 3 am, and it is now 10:30 and no bags, no bikes! It is a damn good thing KC isn't freaking out about this because I am about *this* close. I am trying really hard to be "patient."

In more exciting news, we sat with an actual professional cyclist on our flight from Denver to Phoenix. He is racing this weekend in the Valley of the Sun Stage Race. He is on a team called Aerospace Engineering. He has actually met Lance, and George, and Vino, and has actually been in Velonews for winning races and top finishes. So we picked his brain for 2 hours on what to eat, equipment, accessories, and life as a pro. He was all about the gossip on who is hot and who is not and how the US Pro season looks for this year. Now we will have someone to cheer for at the finish line of the Crit on sunday.
-from the desert, bye for now.

Day of our Lives

On Access Hollywood or ET, Sheryl Crow was asked if she was ready to date again, and she responded by saying:

"All my friends say I should get back on the bike, and I say, well maybe not a bike..."

I thought it wasn't about the bike. It's all about Lance Armstrong's War.

Silly

Summer Already

It was an odd February day today. I woke up to bright sun burning my eyes...not that unusual for February, except for the fact I was awake AFTER sunrise. Then watched the Olympic Winter Games while drinking my tea. Again, not that unusual.

Then off for a mountain bike ride. February 12/2006. I figured the hot balm, lobster gloves, ski socks, booties, lined tights, thermal jacket, long-john shirt, jersey and toque were appropriate gear to wear, considering the date. Or maybe I was disillusioned by the fact the Winter Games were on TV. Anyway, I was wrong. I freakin' boiled. It was +11 today. Can you believe it? I had to strip in Terwillegar Park to remove the long john shirt before I expired. Sigh...none of this is complaining. I just laugh at how we are all creatures of habit...it is February and that = bundling up.

I just checked the weathernetwork. Looks like on Thursday it will be -19. Brrr, not looking forward to that...Oh yeah, I will be in Arizona then! Ha Ha, suckers!

I love my new job

Need I say more?
I love it. Granted I have only been there 4 days now, but I love it. I am so glad I made the move. I don't think I realized just how miserable my last job was. I think I could even stand working a few more hours...but, not many more!! I start now at 7:30 and work until 2pm. It is perfect. I can workout after work and be done by 4. Now, what will I do when Angela comes back from maternity leave in a year?

Eye Can See You...

Well, the title of this blog carries special meaning for me now. The past 3 weeks have been real EYE opening for me. I came down with iritis and it really put some things into perspective.
It seems perhaps it was a 'blessing in disguise' because I was forced to take a week OFF. And, when I say OFF I mean OFF. I could't work, exercise (omigod), read, SEE, watch TV, be in bright areas...nothing. In hindsight, it was wonderful.
I now really understand what people mean when they say, "you have to be grateful for what your body does for you," and "you have to take the time to appreciate what your body does for you." In the past, I have been the last one to admit that I push myself too hard. Okay, yes, I do only work 23 hours a week...but I mean push myself hard, without taking the time to be mindful and grateful for what I have done and what can I do. Not to get to deep but, what does it mattter how hard you train and how well you race if you can't/don't even acknowledge it to yourself?
My week off consisted of napping, listening to books on tape and being waited on by my friends and family, which was really nice. More importantly I gained a lot of perspective on what is really important in my life.
I saw the Doc. yesterday and I am now allowed to "resume normal activities" --don't worry, my Opthamologist knows exactly what this means for me. I am really hoping I can incorporate my new found "light and peace" into my life in the future. But, that is what its about right, always growing and learning....trying to make it the best it can be.